Eddie Mercado & Victor M. Rodriguez are here to recap the UFC Fight Night 11: ‘Thompson vs. Florian’ event from Sept. 19, 2007, featuring Din ‘Dinyero’ Thomas vs. Kenny ‘KenFlo’ Florian as the Main Evant, as well as bouts featuring Chris Leben vs. Terry Martin and Nate Diaz vs. Júnior Assunção.
Welcome to the 6th Round Retro Post-Fight Show. This is the show that digs into the archives and gives you a comprehensive review of classic MMA events, that span as far back as UFC 1. Join Eddie Mercado & Victor Rodriguez as they relive a UFC Fight Night event this week, complete with results, analysis, and of course a few laughs.
This week we feature the Sept. 19th, 2007, UFC Fight Night 11: ‘Thomas vs. Florian’ event, (last week we covered UFC 49: ‘Unfinished Business’ Belfort vs. Couture 3). This was a nine-fight card, chock full of eight out of nine finishes, with the one decision bout taking FOTN. The event went down from The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tapology.com addressed the details behind the Main and Co-Main nicely in their fight wiki: “In something of a rarity in MMA, albeit much more common than in most sports, Ultimate Fight Night 11 ended up airing without either of its originally-scheduled main and co-main event bouts, as Mike ‘Quick’ Swick was forced out of his fight with Chris Leben due to injury and Spencer Fisher was forced out of the main event slot against Din Thomas. After replacing Fisher in the main event, Florian made his case as the top lightweight contender in the UFC by finishing Thomas with a Rear Naked Choke at the end of the first round.”
So, the main event that night ended up showcasing a bout between veteran Din ‘Dinyero’ Thomas and up-and-coming Kenny ‘KenFlo’ Florian. Thomas, was on a three-fight winning streak, having just beat Jeremy ‘Lil Heathen’ Stephens at 2:44 in Round 2 via Armbar a few months back at UFC 71, at the end of May of that year. Dinyero was entering the octagon with a 23-6 professional record against fellow American, Florian; who was an up-and-coming fighter with a 8-2 record, on a two-fight win streak, having last defeated Alvin Robinson at UFC 73, via Punches at just 4:30 of Round 1. Then in the co-main event we ended up with a middleweight brawl between Chris ‘The Crippler’ Leben, having lost three of his last four fights had something to prove this night against ‘Dangerous’ Terry Martin. The fight went a full 13:56 minutes; finally ending with a fortuitous punch thrown from Leben.
Also that night, on the main card we got to watch the then “TUF Season 5 breakout fighter”, Nate Diaz, swarm another young fighter, coming out of Brazil, Mr. Júnior Assunção, in just four minutes and ten seconds of Round 1 – submitting him via a sweet Guillotine Choke. Meanwhile, during the prelims, we had a young Gray Maynard in his third UFC bout punching out Joe Veres in literally nine seconds.
Let’s take a look at the card, complete with fight results:
Main Card:
- MAIN EVENT FIGHT: Kenny Florian DEF. Din Thomas via SUB-Rear-Naked Choke at 4:31 of Rd 1 of 3 – 155 lbs
- Co-Main: Chris Leben DEF. Terry Martin via KO/TKO-Punch at 3:56 of Rd 3. Total 13:56 – 185 lbs
- Nate Diaz DEF. Júnior Assunção via SUB-Guillotine Choke at 4:10 of Rd 1 – 155 lbs
- Nate Quarry DEF. Pete Sell via KO/TKO-Punch at 0:44 of Rd 3, Total 10:44 – 185 lbs
Prelims:
- Luke Cummo DEF. Edilberto de Oliveira via KO/TKO-Punches at 1:45 of Rd 1 – 170 lbs
- Cole Miller DEF. Leonard Garcia via DEC-Unanimous – 155 lbs
- Gray Maynard DEF. Joe Veres via KO/TKO-Punch at 0:09 of Rd 1 – 155 lbs
- Thiago Alves DEF. Kuniyoshi Hironaka via KO/TKO-Punch & Knee at 4:04 of Rd 2, Total 9:04 – 170 lbs
- Dustin Hazelett DEF. Jonathan Goulet via SUB-Armbar at 1:14 of R1 – 170 lbs
Fight of the Night: Cole Miller vs. Leonard Garcia – $40K bonus to each fighter
Performance of the Night: Chris Leben, Dustin Hazelett – $40K bonus to each fighter
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